Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, called Russian dictator Vladmir Putin demanding a 19-mile security corridor along the Turkey-Syria border. A 2019 agreement between Russia and Turkey established that the corridor would be provided among the presence of Kurdish militants, whom Turkey classify as terrorists. Russia intends to send a diplomat for further discussion. Russia also offered to proliferate the supply of natural gas into Turkey, and expand the trade of resources beyond common commodities.
Turkey recently launched air raids into Syria following the November 13th Bombing of Istanbul, which Turkey associates with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party. Turkey shares its longest common border with Syria, and Turkey has been drawn into the Syrian civil war via border clashes since 2011. The situation escalated to Turkish occupation of Northern Syria in 2016, and has remained stagnant since. As discussed in class, expending military efforts is an expensive and complicated process that is difficult to uphold for long periods of time (even if the country is a hegemony like America). Russia and Turkey have been fighting on discourse surrounding the Syrian war since 2015, when the Turkish air force shot down a Russian aircraft. When Russia and the U.S. made a truce to work together in order to cease violence in Syria, Turkey refused to join due to the involvement of Russia.
Turkey’s increased agitation has led to even more violence across borders, which affects all of the countries surrounding it. Greece already has a hostile relationship with Turkey, and adding air strikes across borders will only further tensions. Turkey is impatient to invade Syria after so long of Russia and the US suppressing their efforts. I think that Turkey’s demands are rational, as Russia has not fulfilled the terms of their agreement from 2019. If Russia is to follow through with the security corridor (or any kind of buffer between Syrian forces and Turkish forces), then there will be a significant decrease in violence from border disputes as well as safer and more efficient routes for Syrian refugees. This, however, will also bring controversy within Turkey, as recent polls show that three out of four Turkish citizens believe Syrian refugees residing in Turkey should be sent back (for various reasons). Either way, the Syrian war is a violent exchange that involves many countries across the region and the U.S., so any disputes or discourse surrounding conflicts like this one between Russia and Turkey will be handled with urgency.